This invention relates to helicopter rotor heads of the elastomeric type wherein the rotor blades are connected to the rotor hub through one or more elastomeric type bearings. Such a rotor head is illustrated in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,854. The function of the elastomeric bearings in this rotor head application is to provide rotor blade retention and support while allowing the blade freedom in torsion as well as vertical and horizontal motion to a limited degree and within the shear capabilities of the bearings. These bearings are laminated structures comprising alternating layers of metal plates and elastomer. One of the concerns of the rotor head designer is to provide adequate structural restraint for the larger rotor blade motions which occur during rotor head starting and stopping operations, where the inertia and momentum of the blades tend to cause or allow them to move to lead or lag positions beyond their generally radial position occupied during flight. When a rotor head is started and being brought up to its full rotational speed, there is a tendency for the blades to lag behind the rotor hub until equilibrium is achieved. Similarly, when stopping under the speed retardation of a rotor brake, the blades have a tendency to advance into a lead position relative to the hub. By the configuration shown and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,632, the in-plane damper is connected to the root end of the blade, and its stroke is substantially in a perpendicular direction to the blade feathering axis. Angular rotation of a blade relative to the rotor hub in either the lead or lag direction will be damped by this configuration, and lead or lag excursions beyond a predetermined angle will be reacted by the interaction of the damper and the shaft/hub arm contacts. Experience revealed that this perpendicular relationship between the blade and damper resulted in a high load being imposed on the shear bearing located between the elastomeric bearings and the blade spar root end. While a reorientation of the damper to place its axis generally parallel to that of the blade span axis effectively lowers that high load, such reorientation could not be made without addressing and resolving the need to react the inwardly directed load that occurs when the blade moves to its lead stop and the damper bottoms, as caused by the application of the rotor brake to the hub. The problem caused by the inwardly directed load is its tendency to introduce a tension load into the elastomeric bearings at a time when the normally high compressive load on the bearings is reduced in proportion to the square of the rotor speed.